BBVA takes part in the first general assembly of the European Energy Efficiency Financing Coalition
By getting involved, BBVA will help identify barriers, share best practices, and co-create financial instruments that accelerate improvements in energy efficiency and the decarbonization of the European building stock and industry.
Front cover photo: © European Union, 2025. Source: EC – Audiovisual Service.(CC BY 4.0)
“This coalition represents a strategic opportunity to work in a coordinated way alongside public and private stakeholders in creating an environment conducive to energy efficiency and its financing mechanisms across Europe at the necessary scale. At BBVA, we want to be an active part of the change,” remarked Antoni Ballabriga, Global Head of Sustainability Intelligence & Advocacy at BBVA, during the first annual general assembly of the European Energy Efficiency Financing Coalition, held in Brussels.
BBVA joined this initiative in October 2024, which is being driven by the European Commission with the aim of mobilizing private financing to scale up energy efficiency investments throughout the European Union.
The assembly was hosted by Commissioner for Energy and Housing Dan Jørgensen and brought together high-level representatives from various EU countries, financial institutions, and the Commission itself. As Jørgensen pointed out, “Improving energy efficiency is vital to tackling three major challenges in Europe: enhancing competitiveness, decarbonization, and energy security.”
The coalition, which began operating in January 2025, fosters collaboration between financial institutions, EU Member States, and the European Commission in addressing one of the greatest challenges posed by the energy transition: financing upgrades that reduce energy consumption and CO₂ emissions, particularly in the building sector, industry, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Commitment to sustainability
BBVA’s participation is a further show of its firm commitment to sustainability and to the European Union’s climate goals. Being part of this platform enables the bank to: support the design of innovative financial solutions to facilitate building energy retrofits; provide advice on how to implement the new European directives on energy efficiency; support the development of public policies that promote access to sustainable finance; and identify new business opportunities aligned with its net-zero strategy.
Dan Jørgensen, Commissioner for Energy and Housing © European Union, 2025. Source: EC – Audiovisual Service. (CC BY 4.0)
A key forum for public-private partnership
The European Energy Efficiency Financing Coalition is backed by the 27 EU energy ministers and is open to participation from both public and private financial institutions. A total of 49 financial institutions are already part of the coalition, and more entities from the industry are expected to join soon. The coalition’s ranks will also be expanded to include representatives from industry and other key sectors involved in energy efficiency projects.
One of the coalition’s main pillars will be work through national ‘hubs,’ where bespoke solutions will be designed and promoted to cater to each country’s specific needs. An expert group has also been set up, initially focused on the business and real estate sectors.
Europe has set itself some highly ambitious energy efficiency targets. The Energy Efficiency Directive (Directive (EU) 2023/1791) establishes a binding EU target to reduce final energy consumption by 11.7 percent by 2030. Similarly, the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (Directive (EU) 2024/1275) sets a binding target to increase the average energy efficiency of the national residential building stock by 16 percent by 2030 compared to 2020.
On a global scale, 133 governments agreed at COP28 to an energy efficiency pledge that aims to double the average annual global rate of energy efficiency improvements from around 2 percent to more than 4 percent each year through 2030.